Insights & News

A Serial Entrepreneur’s View

Most of our clients will only ever sell a business once in their careers, but what exactly does a serial deal maker think of BCMS Corporate’s approach?

Paul Daniels is what some would call a serial entrepreneur. He admits that his talents are in seeing solutions to problems and developing those solutions to the point where they have been commercialized and their value has been proven, before selling that business and moving on to his next challenge.

Like most serial entrepreneurs, by necessity, Paul has also become a serial deal maker, going through the business sale process on a regular basis. He explained, “My approach to deal making in the past had been almost intuitive, selecting the buyer and negotiating the best deal. When we set a company up we often had a buyer in mind – typically this approach involved little or no competition.”

Paul was introduced to BCMS Corporate at the point where he was considering an exit from two of his companies and was persuaded to investigate more strategic and proactive approaches. His companies operated in two very different sectors: traffic controls and advertising. Paul said, “I have experience with many ‘competitors’ to BCMS Corporate; for me, BCMS Corporate had the best track record.”

After visiting our office, Paul said, “I was also persuaded by the resources deployed by BCMS Corporate on behalf of their clients. Their research department was substantially larger than any I had encountered previously. He continued, “I was also impressed by a team approach, each member undertaking particular tasks and working to their strengths. The logic of the BCMS Corporate approach was compelling, so we decided to place both mandates with BCMS Corporate. Both companies sold at prices we were extremely happy with. Crucially, as BCMS Corporate assured us, the process created competition and brought to the negotiating table some very ‘unlikely’ competing buyers we would ordinarily never have considered. In fact, BCMS delivered to the letter exactly what they promised.”

Despite being a serial deal maker, Paul Daniels’ motives are still very much aligned with those of the majority of our clients. He is involved with his businesses from start-up through to sale and as such, there is a strong bond between him and his staff. This was very much a factor in selecting the successful bidder for each company.

The traffic controls business sold to a “trade” buyer. While the bid was actually the third highest, it was the best fit in Paul’s view for the company and staff. The advertising business sold to a Private Equity buyer with Paul Daniels retaining a significant stake by re-investing some of the sale proceeds back into the business.